Matt Moore was expected to excel right away for the Rays. He would have been the overwhelming favorite for Rookie of the Year honors if not for Yu Darvish‘s presence on the Rangers, and many thought he had a good shot at the award anyway. Some thought he might quickly overtake CC Sabathia, David Price and Jon Lester to become the AL’s top left-handed starter.

It’s not working out that way, though. Moore was lit up for eight runs in 4 2/3 innings by the A’s of all teams on Sunday. He fell to 1-2 and his ERA jumped to 5.74 for the season.

Moore has performed better than those numbers suggest. Today’s outing was just the second of his six starts in which he allowed more than three runs. Still, it’s not an encouraging sign that his outings keep getting shorter. From first to last, here’s how long he’s lasted in his six starts:

As you can see, those longest starts actually came against his toughest opponents. The shortest have come versus the Mariners and now the A’s.

It’s likely only a matter of time until Moore busts out. Lefties with his stuff don’t come around often, and the Rays probably aren’t having any thoughts yet of demoting him. Anyone looking to speculate in a fantasy league could do a lot worse.

Tough start to watch today. Matt Moores stuff is unbelievable but learning the league will take some time. I have a feeling his best outtings will come after the All Star break. And hey, when hes your ‘worst’ starter, Ill take that all day long. Go Rays.

Forget Matt Moore and Yu Darvish. Right now Drew Smyly is looking like the rookie of the year:
28IP 1.61 ERA, 29Ks 1.179 WHIP
If you take out his first inning in his first start (I think you can forgive a rookie a little bit) his WHIP drops to 1.111 (he gave up 2 walks and a hit, no runs)

I don’t think he’ll be able to maintain this, his strand rate has been pretty amazing and he’ll regress there. But’s he’s striking out a batter an inning, missing a lot of bats and in his last start didn’t walk anyone. He’s gotten pretty lucky with run support as despite never giving up more than 2 runs in any start he is only 1-0 with 4 no decisions but if he is able to keep this up he should be the AL ROY.